Riva is taking more votes from Chastain than Lawrence........Hollywood is the ''dream factory '' , not the factory of grim existential despair ........choose dark, bleak, pessimism over sunny optimism ?...naah !

They aint going to ignore a lighthearted comedy showcased by a young , talented , glamorous actress and give the Oscar to an old lady acting the role of a dying old woman ....I mean , it's gruesome .....AMOUR is a movie that I would NEVER care to see again

In a broader philosophical sense , looking through a wide angle historical lens , this fascination with a dying old woman , nay , even the beginnings of a ''death cult '' in embryonic form , is not unusual among the secular minded

In fact , those of us familiar with the ''cults of the dead'' of antiquity will recognise it in it's post modern form ...it is infact the natural bleak , depressive , even obsessive, fascination with death that naturally comes from the lack of optimism ...rather like the natural darkness that comes from the lack of light and is becoming rather typical of the zeitgeist in the Western World ...but is it life imitating art or art imitating life ?

'' Always look on the bright side of life '' ! .....even when you're going to be crucified ...things are never quite as bad as they seem !

Why did Swank won for 'Boys Don't Cry' and 'Million Dollar Baby' then? Both films had a very bleak and tragic ending. The latter is about euthanasia, actually, and won Best Picture (similar to 'Amour', don't you think?). Also, 'The Hours', 'La Vie en Rose', 'Monster', 'The Reader' and 'Black Swan' had tragedy in their ending, yet these actresses won the Oscar.

I still think that Lawrence vs. Riva is the most unpredictable, unexpected and tightest Oscar race this year.

And I don't think the majority of the Academy members (who are over 50-60 years old) will not emotionally connect with Riva's extremely touching and heartbreaking performance in 'Amour' (this could have been their wives or husbands; that's how realistic this performance is). Add to this the fact that the Oscars are on the date of her birthday and her being the oldest Oscar nominee ever. I think that they could very well go for her. Lawrence has Weinstein and the 'babe' factor, but I can definitely see Riva winning here.

Riva is taking more votes from Chastain than Lawrence........Hollywood is the ''dream factory '' , not the factory of grim existential despair ........choose dark, bleak, pessimism over sunny optimism ?...naah !

They aint going to ignore a lighthearted comedy showcased by a young , talented , glamorous actress and give the Oscar to an old lady acting the role of a dying old woman ....I mean , it's gruesome .....AMOUR is a movie that I would NEVER care to see again

We humans are often fascinated and intrigued by death , maybe this could be the beginning of the ''death cult of Riva '' ?

PS/ Riva and Amour are being honoured in the best foreign film .... surely , that should be sufficient

Watch Vittorio De Sica's Two Women. Sophia Loren won the Oscar for that heartwarming little farce. That win makes the argument for the Academy awarding both a foreign language film in an acting category and a film that is emotionally wrought. I'm officially joining the Riva bandwagon.

Why did Swank won for 'Boys Don't Cry' and 'Million Dollar Baby' then? Both films had a very bleak and tragic ending. The latter is about euthanasia, actually, and won Best Picture (similar to 'Amour', don't you think?). Also, 'The Hours', 'La Vie en Rose', 'Monster', 'The Reader' and 'Black Swan' had tragedy in their ending, yet these actresses won the Oscar.

I still think that Lawrence vs. Riva is the most unpredictable, unexpected and tightest Oscar race this year.

And I don't think the majority of the Academy members (who are over 50-60 years old) will not emotionally connect with Riva's extremely touching and heartbreaking performance in 'Amour' (this could have been their wives or husbands; that's how realistic this performance is). Add to this the fact that the Oscars are on the date of her birthday and her being the oldest Oscar nominee ever. I think that they could very well go for her. Lawrence has Weinstein and the 'babe' factor, but I can definitely see Riva winning here.

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Other movies , as you say , had tragic endings , but the movies were not one looong death scene ....million dollar baby was obliquely about euthenasia, but it also had an excellent story to it

Amour can be summed up in one short sentance..... '' old man puts his dying wife out of her misery '' ...THERE ! ..hows that for a spoiler ? ...it's like a documentary that you must endure for over 2 hours ...I ,for one, came out of the theatre dazed and reeling and I noticed some old women sat there ...only God knows how they felt

As far as the over 50-60s voters being able to identify with it ?..sure they can , especially in liberal , secular Hollywood , but the place to reward the movie will be in Best foreign film catagory , or even Director/screen play

And furthermore, how many folks in the US have even heard of this movie or would EVEN like to go see it ?...come , grab a front seat and watch old granny die ...jeeeez...it's a hard fact of life , but who would need to be reminded of it

It really comes down to whether they want to go the respectable route or the sensational route; whether the majority votes for what they connected and empathized with more (or simply respected) or what they were impressed with and felt good about more (having a likeness for the actress also factoring in).

*sigh* looks like 2 more critics have bellied up to the Emmanuelle Riva Special Kool-Aid Kiosk,as I call it. I think the Oscars should be scheduled before the BAFTAs, like they were a few years ago. Too much influence from that outfit...

Why did Swank won for 'Boys Don't Cry' and 'Million Dollar Baby' then? Both films had a very bleak and tragic ending. The latter is about euthanasia, actually, and won Best Picture (similar to 'Amour', don't you think?). Also, 'The Hours', 'La Vie en Rose', 'Monster', 'The Reader' and 'Black Swan' had tragedy in their ending, yet these actresses won the Oscar.

I still think that Lawrence vs. Riva is the most unpredictable, unexpected and tightest Oscar race this year.

And I don't think the majority of the Academy members (who are over 50-60 years old) will not emotionally connect with Riva's extremely touching and heartbreaking performance in 'Amour' (this could have been their wives or husbands; that's how realistic this performance is). Add to this the fact that the Oscars are on the date of her birthday and her being the oldest Oscar nominee ever. I think that they could very well go for her. Lawrence has Weinstein and the 'babe' factor, but I can definitely see Riva winning here.

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Other movies , as you say , had tragic endings , but the movies were not one looong death scene ....million dollar baby was obliquely about euthenasia, but it also had an excellent story to it

Amour can be summed up in one short sentance..... '' old man puts his dying wife out of her misery '' ...THERE ! ..hows that for a spoiler ? ...it's like a documentary that you must endure for over 2 hours ...I ,for one, came out of the theatre dazed and reeling and I noticed some old women sat there ...only God knows how they felt

As far as the over 50-60s voters being able to identify with it ?..sure they can , especially in liberal , secular Hollywood , but the place to reward the movie will be in Best foreign film catagory , or even Director/screen play

And furthermore, how many folks in the US have even heard of this movie or would EVEN like to go see it ?...come , grab a front seat and watch old granny die ...jeeeez...it's a hard fact of life , but who would need to be reminded of it

I'm gonna laugh at you so hard if Riva wins, just for the pure fun of it.

Amour is just a typical dark , grim movie that pessimistic Euro-folk would be obsessed with ....however, it doesn't translate well into the sunny optimism of the US ...on the other hand ,Hollyoood is in many ways more typical of Europe than mainstream America

JUNK ...well go ahead and laugh ....if Riva wins I'll lose all my money , but that's a risk I'll take ....the RIVA death train will run out of steam before the finish line...but IF it doesn't, I'll be in more misery than she was in the movie

So go ahead and laugh , but the gunshot you will hear could be me putting myself out of misery ....jeeez ...''life immitating art ''? HAHAHAHA